[This action alert came to us from the Campaign for Labor Rights, forwarded from the U.S. Labor Education in the Americas Project]

[9-17-04]

Workers at the only maquila factory in El Salvador with a democratic trade union need your immediate support.

Just Garments was founded last year after an international campaign succeeded in reversing the closing of Tainan Enterprises' factories after workers asked for contract negotiations in 2002. Since the workers' victory, however, the factory has struggled against local employers opposed to a unionized maquila in El Salvador and against U.S. retailers who have yet to authorize production at the factory. (Click here for more background information on Just Garments.)

The exciting news is that Just Garments has secured its first commercial order from No Sweat for khaki pants, which markets only union-made products.

The size of No Sweat's initial order will be determined by orders placed over the next ten days on its website at www.NoSweatShop.com. The size of No Sweat's order will directly impact the level of employment at Just Garments, where workers have struggled for over two years to win justice and dignity (to say nothing of a paycheck). The size of the order - and therefore its impact on employment at Just Garments - depends on anti-sweatshop activists and consumers placing orders by September 24, 2004.

Please visit the No Sweat website today and buy a pair of Just Garments khaki pants! Some people would prefer to see this unionized factory fail, so we need to do all we can to support the commercial success of Just Garments and demonstrate that a unionized factory can and will be successful in El Salvador. Let's help it succeed!

For justice at home and abroad,

Stephen Coats, Executive Director
and
Alison Paul, Campaign Coordinator

www.usleap.org